National news

Amtrak train crash death toll rises to 6

A rescuer searches for injured people inside the derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia.

By

ScottCalvert

AndrewTangel

PHILADELPHIA — At least six people have died after a northbound Amtrak train carrying 238 passengers to New York derailed here Tuesday night in a violent wreck that sheared the engine from the train and overturned cars full of riders.

Five people were initially reported killed after the crash and a sixth person died overnight, according to the Associated Press. At least five other people were critically injured and dozens more were hurt, according to officials.

The engine and all seven cars of Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed at about 9:30 p.m. near a sharp curve in a section of the corridor known as Frankford Junction, an Amtrak official said. The train was carrying five crew members.

“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said at a news conference.

The train originated in Washington and was due in New York about 10:30 p.m. But shortly after leaving Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, the train began to jerk and rock, passengers said.

“I was holding on to the table for dear life, and because of force just got thrown to the other side of the car, head first into the window, and my shoulder hit the guy who was there,” former Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy, a passenger on the train, told MSNBC. He was uninjured.

More than 120 firefighters and 200 police responded to the chaotic scene that included several badly mangled railcars, officials said.

One car was flipped nearly onto its roof, another was close to toppled, and three were on their sides, the Federal Railroad Administration said. The engine and two cars stayed upright.

Rescue workers used hydraulic tools to help some trapped passengers escape from the wreckage, Mr. Nutter said.

The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known. The Amtrak official declined to speculate on whether the train’s speed contributed to the derailment but noted the tight curve in the area has a speed restriction of 55 miles an hour.

Train service was canceled Wednesday between Philadelphia and New York, but New Jersey Transit plans to honor Amtrak tickets between New York and Trenton, N.J., Amtrak said. Mayor Nutter said Tuesday night he expected service between Philadelphia and New York could be shut down for the rest of the week.

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